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Wednesday, May 19, 2010

As soon as I discovered that I really do like quinoa, I started seeing interesting-looking quinoa recipes everywhere. I spotted this recipe for a quinoa-based variation of the Middle Eastern salad called tabbouleh (tuh-boo-lee), and since I love the simple Tabbouleh with Almonds that I make every summer when my garden has mint and parsley, I knew I'd enjoy this recipe. Authentic tabbouleh has more parsley and mint than grain, so this is more of a tabbouleh-like salad, but it was definitely very tasty. Normally I'm not a fan of tomatoes in tabbouleh, but they worked well in this recipe, and I was excited that I could use mint and parsley from the garden, even though the weather in Utah is still raining and I had to dash outside between cloudbursts to pick the herbs!

Most types of quinoa have to be rinsed, but check the package to see if yours is the no-rinse type. I rinsed with cold water until no more foam appeared, then let it drain in this fine colander.

Bring water to a boil, then add quinoa, turn heat to a low simmer and cook 12-15 minutes, or until the water absorbed. Then cover the quinoa and let it sit 5 minutes. (Check your quinoa package for cooking directions because I've seen different instructions on the two brands of quinoa I've used. You can also cook quinoa in a rice cooker if you prefer.)

I diced up the cherry tomatoes whole the quinoa was cooking, and let them drain in the same colander I used for the quinoa. You may not need to drain the tomatoes, but mine were pretty juicy.

After the quinoa sits covered for 5 minutes, put it into the bowl you're using for the salad and let it cool for 20-30 minutes, stirring a few times.

While the quinoa cools, chop the cucumbers in pieces about 1/2 inch and finely chop the parsley. (I like curly parsley in a salad like this, but you can use either type.)

When the quinoa is cooled to room temperature, stir in the cucumber, drained tomatoes, and parsley, then add just enough dressing to moisten the salad. Cover the salad, refrigerate, and let flavors blend for 30 minutes or as long as a few hours if you're making this ahead.

Remove salad from fridge and let it come to room temperature while you finely chop the mint.

Stir in finely chopped mint. Taste salad, then add the reserved dressing to taste (you may not need all the dressing.) Season with more salt if desired and serve.

Put quinoa into a fine-mesh strainer and rinse well with cold water until no more foam appears. (You can use a paper towel inside a regular strainer if you don't have one that's fine enough. Check the package to see if your quinoa needs to be rinsed.)

Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add pinch of salt, stir in quinoa, reduce heat to the barest simmer and cook 12-15 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Cover the quinoa and let it sit for 5 minutes more. (Check quinoa package for cooking directions because the two different brands I've used had different directions, You can also cook quinoa in a rice cooker if you prefer.)

While quinoa cooks, chop cherry tomatoes into small pieces. If the tomatoes are very juicy, let them drain in the same colander you used for the quinoa.

After it sits for 5 minutes, put the cooked quinoa into the bowl you're using for the salad and let it cool to room temperature for 20-30 minutes. While quinoa cools, peel the cucumbers, scrape out seeds if they are large, then chop cucumbers into 1/2 inch pieces. (Unless your cucumbers have a very thick skin, it looks nice to peel them in strips like I did so there's some green showing.) Wash the parsley, spin dry or dry with paper towels, then finely chop until you have 1/2 cup chopped parsley. Whisk together the olive oil, fresh lemon juice, ground cumin, pinch of cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. salt to make the dressing.

When quinoa is cooled to room temperature, stir in the cucumber, drained tomatoes, and parsley, then add just enough dressing to moisten the salad, about 4-5 T of the prepared dressing (you will use some of the reserved dressing later.) Cover the salad, refrigerate, and let flavors blend for 30 minutes or as long as a few hours if you're making this ahead.

When you're ready to serve the salad, remove from refrigerator and let it come to room temperature while you wash mint, spin dry or dry with paper towels, and finely chop to make 1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped mint. (I love mint, but it's a strong flavor so if you're not sure how much you like it, I'd use the smaller amount.) Stir in chopped mint, then taste the salad and add more of the reserved dressing until the flavor tastes fresh (you may not need all the dressing.) Season with a little more salt if desired, and serve.

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Mmmmmmmm, lovely. I am enjoying quinoa again. Hadn't enjoyed it for a while, but now the summer is tiptoeing in, it is coming out to play. I sat down to a salad of quinoa, black beluga lentils, kidney beans, tomatoes, avocado, coriander and a lime and mustard dressing tonight. It was tasty and very satisfying. I am going to try your salad too, it does sound like just what I want :)

This is absolutely my type of dish! I've been using the rice cooker method for quinoa, and because it's so easy to make, I've been eating more quinoa. And I just noticed the mint in my garden, so I'm all set to try this.

So glad that people are liking the sound of this. It's great for a gluten-free option for Tabbouleh, or if you want to up the protein, and mostly it was just good!

That bowl is a new acquisition and I'm really liking it too! Thanks for the nice comments about the photos; when I was taking them I worried it wasn't light enough but I was pretty pleased with how they came out.

I love making tabbouleh with quinoa, Kalyn. I've taken it to potlucks before and folks who have never tasted quinoa loved it, too. We've even enjoyed it as a healthy addition to tacos before. :-) It is very true that once you decide you like an ingredient, you start noticing recipes for it everywhere. ;-) Anyway, your quinoa tabbouleh looks totally delicious. Makes me wish I had some for lunch!

So glad people are liking this! I was really happy with how it turned out. (I do have to say that the brillinant idea to use Quinoa in Tabbouleh was from Fine Cooking though, as credited before the recipe. Not sure I would have thought of that, but it was a winner.)

such a delicious and healthy looking quinoa salad! i make a similar quinoa salad and add raisins and slivered almonds to it. i like the crunch of the almonds and the sweetness of raisins against the lime/vinegar dressing. keep the quinoa recipes coming, i am loving it.

I used this recipe with regular old bulgur wheat (I couldn't find quinoa in my local supermarket) and it was still absolutely delicious! The cumin and cinnamon really give it a nice flavor. Definitely saving it for future use! Thank you for sharing!!

How fun to see your recipe. I made Quinoa Tabbouleh for the first time a couple days ago. I didn't have enough parsley in the garden so I used fresh basil instead. I also used lime juice instead of lemon. It turned out great. I am looking forward to doing it again with a couple of the ingredients you used that I did not. It's a fun easy way to use quinoa.

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